Ndum, Fafe repeat as African champs; Nigeria sweeps WW

Tuesday, March 19, 2024 - 20:47 By Vinay Siwach

ALEXANDRIA, Egypt (March 19) -- Egypt dominated Greco-Roman on day one of the senior African Championships with nine out of 10 gold medals and the team title. While it won the team title in Freestyle, it could not repeat the golden performance of the Greco team.

Egypt finished at the top of the podium with 205 points with Algeria finishing second with 170 points. Senegal finished third with 96 points. The three countries shared eight gold medals amongst themselves and the remaining two went to Guinea Bissau.

Diamantino IUNA FAFE (GBS) and Bacar NDUM (GBS) became the African champions for the second time after winning the 57kg and 74kg gold medals respectively.

Iuna Fafe was defending his 57kg gold medal and opened his account with a 5-1 win over KHALIL BARKOUTI (TUN). He followed that up with a fall over Omar FAYE (SEN) and then pinned Roland TAMBI NFORSONG (CMR) in the final after leading 8-0.

Ndum, who won the 70kg title in 2022, won the gold medal at 74kg after blanking Saad BOUGUERRA (ALG), 10-0, in the final. But his first bout was a see-saw that he won 13-12 against Mohamed ABDELHADY (EGY). Ndum had built a 7-0 lead in the first period but Abdelhady hit a beautiful reverse trip to score a four-pointer and then rolled Ndum three times to lead 10-7 with 1:04 left.

Ndum would put Abdelhady on his back for four before a reversal forced him to give up a point. Abdelhady led 11-11 on criteria when Ndum challenged and lost to give him a clear 12-11 lead with 31 seconds left.

That time was enough for Ndum to finish another takedown and lead 13-12 as he played out the final 18 seconds without further drama.

Iuna Fafe and Ndum will now look to earn a spot for Paris next weekend at the African & Oceania OG Qualifiers.

Egypt was carried by Shehabeldin MOHAMED (EGY) who won the 65kg gold medal after beating Zohier IFTENE (ALG), 8-6, in the final. At 86kg, Mohamed ABDELAAL (EGY) overcame Oussama ABDELLAOUI (ALG), 11-4 and won the gold medal.

Youssif HEMIDA (EGY) was far more convincing as he won his final against Ashton MUTUWA (NGR), 11-0. Mohamed SALAHELDIN (EGY) at 92kg earned the bronze medal in a three-wrestler bracket.

Tokyo Olympian Abdelhak KHERBACHE (ALG) had moved to 61kg for the championships and won the gold medal in the new weight category. He defeated Didier DIATTA (SEN), 16-5, in a high-scoring final. In all likelihood, Kherbache will move to 57kg for the qualifiers.

Abderrahmane BENAISSA (ALG) added another gold medal for Algeria after he defeated Ahmed MOHAMED (EGY), 7-5, in the 70kg final as Algeria won its third gold medal of the night.

Pape NDIAYE (SEN) stunned everyone as he defeated Abdelrahman ABOUHEIBA (EGY), via fall, in the 97kg final. Ndiaye won all his bouts via technical superiority or via fall.

Nigeria sweeps

Nigeria won all five gold medals on offer as the Asian Championships ended. It had won four out of the five on Monday and added five more.

At 50kg, Mercy GENESIS (NGR) defeated Rosine NTSA ASSOUGA (CMR), via fall, to announce her name as the favorite to earn a Paris ticket at the qualifiers from March 22 to 24.

Adijat IDRIS (NGR), Mercy ADEKUOROYE (NGR), Ebipatei MUGHENBOFA (NGR) and Ebi BIOGOS (NGR) won the gold medals at 55kg, 59kg, 65kg and 72kg.

With nine gold and one silver medal, Nigeria won the team title with 245 points out of the possible 250 points. Egypt finished second with 162 points while Tunisia is third with 140 points.

RESULTS

Freestyle

57kg
GOLD: Diamantino IUNA FAFE (GBS) df. Roland TAMBI NFORSONG (CMR), via fall (8-0)

BRONZE: KHALIL BARKOUTI (TUN) df. Omar FAYE (SEN), 2-1
BRONZE: Abdelrahman MAHMOUD (EGY) df. Alexander BUCKMAN (CPV), 10-0

61kg
GOLD: Abdelhak KHERBACHE (ALG) df. Didier DIATTA (SEN), 16-5

BRONZE: Hassan ELSAYED (EGY) df. Reginaldo da SILVA (ANG), 10-0

65kg
GOLD: Shehabeldin MOHAMED (EGY) df. Zohier IFTENE (ALG), 8-6

BRONZE: Manaceu NGONDA (ANG) df. Sylvio DIATTA (SEN), 13-3
BRONZE: Stephen IZOLO (NGR) df. Gibriel CHOW (GAM), via walkover

70kg
GOLD: Abderrahmane BENAISSA (ALG) df. Ahmed MOHAMED (EGY), 7-5

BRONZE: Brendin LOUW (RSA) df. Ya Mouhamed NDONG (SEN), via fall (2-4)

74kg
GOLD: Bacar NDUM (GBS) df. Saad BOUGUERRA (ALG), 10-0

BRONZE: Joao BARBOSA (CPV) df. Jacques MONTY (CMR), 10-0
BRONZE: Mohamed ABDELHADY (EGY) df. Arno VAN ZIJL (RSA), 11-7

79kg
GOLD: Chems FETAIRIA (ALG)
SILVER: Nasser SAYED (EGY)
BRONZE: Mohamed BEN JAAFAR (TUN)

86kg
GOLD: Mohamed ABDELAAL (EGY) df. Oussama ABDELLAOUI (ALG), 11-4

BRONZE: Harrison ONOVWIOMOGBOHWO (NGR) df. Mark ONGUYESI (KEN), 10-0
BRONZE: Matteo MONTEIRO (CPV) df. Cedric ABOSSOLO (CMR), 5-3

92kg
GOLD: Mohamed SALAHELDIN (EGY)
SILVER: Issa RHIMI (TUN)
BRONZE: Yacine LAKROUT (ALG)

97kg
GOLD: Pape NDIAYE (SEN) df. Abdelrahman ABOUHEIBA (EGY), via fall (10-0)

BRONZE: Franck ANABA (CMR) df. Amoussou CAKPO (BEN), via inj. (4-1)

125kg
GOLD: Youssif HEMIDA (EGY) df. Ashton MUTUWA (NGR), 11-0

BRONZE: Justin VAN ZYL (RSA) df. Georges TCHADIE (CMR), via fall (4-0)
BRONZE: Modou FAYE (SEN) df. Djahid BERRAHAL (ALG), 15-4

Women's Wrestling

50kg
GOLD: Mercy GENESIS (NGR) df. Rosine NTSA ASSOUGA (CMR), via fall

BRONZE: Nourhene HEDHLI (TUN) df. Matilda KOKERA (RSA), via fall
BRONZE: Ibtissem DOUDOU (ALG) df. Malak AHMED (EGY), 13-2

55kg
GOLD: Adijat IDRIS (NGR)
SILVER: Aya SOLIMAN (EGY)
BRONZE: Lobna ICHAOUI (TUN)

59kg
GOLD: Mercy ADEKUOROYE (NGR)
SILVER: Hana HUSSEIN (EGY)
BRONZE: Chahd JELJELI (TUN)

65kg
GOLD: Ebipatei MUGHENBOFA (NGR)
SILVER: Badawi HAMDOUN (EGY)
BRONZE: Ikome VIOLETTE NAMONDO (CMR)

72kg
GOLD: Ebi BIOGOS (NGR)
SILVER: AYA ICHAOUI (TUN)
BRONZE: Aimelda NDIFFO (SEN)

#WrestleSamokov

Stanich proves doubters wrong, wins U20 world title

Wednesday, August 20, 2025 - 13:58 By Vinay Siwach

SAMOKOV, Bulgaria (August 18) -- Luke STANICH (USA) is aware that many did not back him to make the U.S. team, forget about winning a medal in international tournament.

"I love it," Stanich said. "If you have to prove everyone wrong, I feel great. I've always been doubted at tournaments. Even after I won the tournament, the U.S. Open, people still didn't have me making the team. I've been dealing with this forever, but just motivation, just to prove people wrong."

Stanich proved many doubters wrong by winning the gold medal at 65kg at the U20 World Championships in Samokov, Bulgaria on Tuesday. In the final, Stanich kept an inspired Reiji UCHIDA (JPN) under control and won 4-3 to claim the world title.

Uchida brought the Japanese style of wrestling with constant leg attacks but Stanich had all the answered and scored two takedowns to remain in control of the final

"I knew it was my match to wrestle," he said. "He was strong and quick, but I knew what kind of attacks he was looking for. I had confidence in my offense and my defense."

Perhaps it was his confidence that helped him recover from an 8-0 deficit in his first bout against Abdullah TOPRAK (TUR) and make a run to win the gold medal. Toprak scored a takedown and gut-wrenched Stanich three times to lead 8-0 and put all his effort into a fourth turn. However, Stanich defend that and rallied to beat a tired Toprak 18-8.

In his next match, Stanich managed to hold off 2024 world U17 champion Omurbek ASAN UULU (KGZ), 9-3, and then had a close 3-3 win over Alessandro NINI (ITA) in the quarterfinals. He had European U20 and U23 champion Amal DZHANDUBAEV (UWW) in the semifinals but a solid defense helped him win 3-1 and enter the final.

"I said that right after the first match ended," he said. "I was like, 'wow! Once I go on this run and win this tournament, it can be pretty crazy story to tell that I was down 8-0 in the very first match, the tournament. I came back to win it.

"Super proud of my effort and able to storm back like that and get on the top podium."

Stanich said that standing on top of the podium was one of the most memorable moments of his career and called his run as 'gritty'.

"Gritty, being tough and breaking people."

Another U.S. wrestler in the final, William HENCKEL (USA), was not able to complete his campaign with a gold medal after dropping the final 8-6 against returning bronze medalist and senior Asian champion Mahdi YOUSEFI (IRI).

Henckel was leading the final bout but Yousefi scored a stepout to make a 4-3 lead. Yousefi scored two stepouts and a takedown while Henckel scored three stepouts and a caution against Yousefi who defended his lead in the last 30 seconds.

This was the first gold medal for Iran in this World Championships.

At 57kg, Magomed OZDAMIROV (UWW) survived a strong Sumit MALIK (IND) and won the gold medal 8-5. Ozdamirov needed a few medical timeouts to regain his breath against Malik, who could not finish even one of his attempted takedowns.

Uzbekistan won gold medal at the World U20 Championships after three years as Asian U20 champion Sherzod POYONOV (UZB) scored a takedown during his activity time to beat returning bronze medalist Kamil KURUGLIYEV (KAZ), 3-2, in the 92kg final.

Incidentally, the last time an Uzbekistan wrestler won gold at World U20s was also in Bulgaria when Umidon JALOLOV (UZB) won 65kg gold medal in 2022.

RESULTS

57kg
GOLD: Magomed OZDAMIROV (UWW) df. Sumit MALIK (IND), 8-5

BRONZE: Vasif BAGHIROV (AZE) df. Ion BULGARU (MDA), 8-2
BRONZE: Nurdanat AITANOV (KAZ) df. Baiaman KERIMBEKOV (KGZ), 11-0

65kg
GOLD: Luke STANICH (USA) df. Reiji UCHIDA (JPN), 4-3

BRONZE: Arman MUSIKYAN (ARM) df. Viktor BOROHAN (UKR), 4-0
BRONZE: Abdullah TOPRAK (TUR) df. Amal DZHANDUBAEV (UWW), 14-10

79kg
GOLD: Mahdi YOUSEFI (IRI) df. William HENCKEL (USA), 8-6

BRONZE: Said SAIDULOV (UWW) df. Ion MARCU (MDA), 11-0
BRONZE: Davit TCHETCHELASHVILI (GEO) df. AMIT (IND), 9-6

92kg
GOLD: Sherzod POYONOV (UZB) df. Kamil KURUGLIYEV (KAZ), 3-2

BRONZE: Connor MIRASOLA (USA) df. Anar JAFARLI (AZE), 10-0
BRONZE: Gadzhimurad GADZHIBATYROV (UWW) df. Sorato KANAZAWA (JPN), 15-5

Ndum, Fafe repeat as African champs; Nigeria sweeps WW

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Stanich proves doubters wrong, wins U20 world title